Is the Arizona Chamber really serious about business?

When I received the Arizona Capitol Times (June 25, 2010) issue I was excited to see the front-page article entitled, “Business groups move to center.” The article starts off noting the commitment by the business community to send a message to our legislators to stop wasting time on “kooky stuff like ‘birther’ bills.”

Finally, I told myself, some of the respected business organizations in the state are stepping forward and publicly acknowledging the dire situation that we are in and are taking steps to help remedy the situation by publicizing their position. I continued to get more convinced when I saw the quote by Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he said, “Would we rather see a jobs bill go through than a birther bill? That’s a fair statement.”

How right he is. And, without putting words in his mouth, I would assume that he would also agree that the bill that allows guns in bars (by non-drinkers, of course) would also fall into the category of “kooky bills.” My euphoria was very short-lived as I started perusing the rest of the paper.

On Page 4 there was a short article that listed the candidates who are being endorsed by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. And, there it was in black and white — the chamber is endorsing Judy Burges, the author of the “birther bill” and also Jack Harper, the author of the “Guns in Bars” bill! So, I guess the Arizona Chamber isn’t really serious about cleaning up the state after all. And how much of that $275,000 that was collected at the mentioned fundraiser will go to help promote the future authors of the next “birther,” “bang-bang,” or “get out of town” bill? We will just have to wait and see. I’m glad I didn’t attend that fundraiser!